Music and writing contained in this post was performed by Andrew Jodice of Markets, Liberty, & Discipline. He’s studied and blends Al Brooks’ theory, Richard D. Wyckoff’s theory, and Charles H. Dow’s theory to conduct his analysis, and implements Al Brooks’ strategy to execute trades.
You know those weeks when every watchlist looks like a crime scene?
Red candles, red P&L,
red on the heat map,
red in my mood!
I am staring at a sea of red.
Red candles, red P&L,
Red on the heat map,
Red in my Mood
Ukulele in Hand,
I play like a band,
I am staring at a sea of red.
Red candles, red P&L,
Red on the heat map,
Red in my Mood
Ukulele in Hand,
I play like a band,
I steal back a minute from fear in my head,
Let chords cut the static the headlines have spread.
The market still crashes, the tickers still bleed,
But rhythm reminds me: breathe slower, take heed.
No heroic breakout, no backtested edge,
Just four wooden strings at my screen’s glowing ledge.
I count out the beats like a stop-loss in time,
Each downstroke a boundary, each upstroke a climb.
When the last note is fading, my pulse has slowed down,
The charts have not changed—but I will not drown.
I turn to the candles with steadier eyes,
Let go of revenge and the need to be wise.
Trade only the plan, leave the panic unread;
Ukulele in hand in a sea of red.
This article is about something disarmingly simple that I do when the screens feel like they’re screaming at me: I pick up my ukulele and play for one minute. Not an hour. Not a full practice session. Just sixty seconds to soothe my soul and the souls of other stock traders rowing through the same sea of red.
If you’re reading this with a cup of coffee, a clenched jaw, and your cursor hovering over the sell button, this “one-minute ukulele reset” is for you.
When the market turns into a sea of red
The stock market has been bleeding all week, futures are gapping down, and every risk-on chart looks like a ski slope pointed straight into the abyss. Before the usual spiral of over-analysis, doom-scrolling, and “what if I’d sold yesterday” kicks in, I do something that makes zero sense on a price chart and perfect sense for trading psychology:
I pick up my ukulele, and I play for one minute.
No fancy solo. No TikTok performance. Just sixty seconds of simple chords to soothe the soul while the market screams.
One minute, one instrument, one nervous system reset
That one-minute ukulele break is my antidote to market volatility, not another trading “edge” to backtest.
When the stock market is red and social feeds are full of “next stock market crash” headlines, it is easy to slip into fear, revenge trading, and impulsive decisions. That is exactly when traders convince themselves that adding more indicators, more screens, and more news will help. Usually, it does the opposite.
A tiny, physical ritual like strumming a ukulele interrupts that loop.
In that one minute, I am not a day trader staring at a P&L. I am just a person holding an instrument, breathing slower, feeling the vibration of the strings in my hands. It is a reset button for emotional resilience and risk management, not for the chart.
The red candles are still there after I stop playing. The difference is that my nervous system is no longer chasing them.
What my one-minute ukulele ritual actually looks like
Here is how it plays out in real time on a brutal red day:
I notice my tells
Jaw clenched. Shoulders tight. I am zooming in and out on the same 5-minute chart like the candles will magically change if I stare hard enough. Classic pre-tilt behavior.I step away – physically
I push the chair back, stand up, and pick up the ukulele that lives within arm’s reach of my trading setup. No phone. No charts. Just instrument in hand.I set a hard limit: one minute
This is not procrastination. It is a one-minute ritual. I literally watch the clock. Sixty seconds, then back to work.I play something simple
A basic progression. No creativity contest. The goal is not to impress anyone; it is to soothe my nervous system. I listen to the sound instead of listening to the voice that says, “You’re missing the move.”I return and re-run the checklist
Back at the desk, I look at my risk-reward, position sizing, and stop-loss levels with fresh eyes. If a trade still fits my system, I take it. If not, I let it go. The ukulele does not decide for me; it just makes sure fear is not the one deciding.
This is where trading psychology quietly becomes risk management. You cannot execute a solid plan if your state is wrecked. The one-minute ukulele ritual (exact steps I use)
Here’s the actual playbook I follow after a big down week when the charts are a sea of red and my soul feels frayed.
You can literally do this between trades or after you shut the platform down for the day.
1. Step away from the screen
I physically turn my chair away from the monitors or stand up and walk to a different corner of the room. This sounds trivial, but it breaks the visual spell of blinking quotes and red candles.
2. Set a strict 60-second boundary
I start a one-minute timer on my phone. No more. This is important: traders understand risk/reward and position sizing; think of this as a fixed “position size” in time.
One minute is short enough that I can’t claim “I don’t have time,” but long enough to let my nervous system feel something different.
3. One simple progression, not a performance
I don’t try to impress anyone. I play the same simple chord progression—something like C–G–Am–F—on repeat. No pressure to “sound good,” no improvisation, just pattern and rhythm.
The rule: no judgment, no evaluation.
This is not a metric to optimize. It’s medicine.
4. Match the strum to your breath
I quietly pair my strumming pattern with my breathing:
Inhale over one slow down-strum
Exhale over one slow up-strum
Let the sound and the breath move together
This echoes the breathing guidance from research-backed relaxation techniques where you intentionally lengthen the exhale and keep attention on the sensation of the breath. (Mayo Clinic Connect)
5. One phrase for the soul
Inside my head, I repeat a short phrase that has nothing to do with money:
“I trade the plan, the market is free just like me.”
It’s a mini-mantra, much like the focus words used in clinical relaxation training (“calm,” “relax,” “warm”) to help the body associate a word with a state of ease. (Mayo Clinic Shared Files)
When the minute ends, I stop—even if I want to keep going. That boundary is what turns this from “noodling around” into a repeatable ritual.
How this helps my trading (not just my mood)
On the surface, this is about soothing the soul. But as traders we care about edge, execution, and sustainability. So here’s why a one-minute ukulele reset matters for performance.
1. It protects your risk management
Good risk management for active traders depends on following a predefined plan: stops, risk/reward ratios, and consistent position sizing.
The problem is that, under stress, we override that plan:
Canceling stops
Doubling size to “make it back”
Taking trades that don’t fit our rules
My ukulele ritual serves as a circuit breaker, I do it:
After three losing trades in a row
After any impulsive trade, win or lose
At the end of a red day or red week
It gives me a moment to reset before I decide whether to keep trading or walk away.
2. It improves trading psychology without needing a full therapy session
There is a huge field around trading psychology and performance, but many techniques boil down to the same core ideas: regulate arousal, widen attention, and reconnect to process instead of outcome. (Investopedia)
The ukulele ritual checks all three boxes:
Regulate arousal – breathing and soft sound help the nervous system slide from “fight or flight” toward calm. (Mayo Clinic)
Widen attention – instead of staring at a single ticker, I’m noticing fingers, strings, sound, breath.
Reconnect to process – I’m literally practicing a process (the progression and the timer) with no P&L attached.
3. It reminds me I am more than my P&L
Perhaps the most important benefit is spiritual, not just psychological.
When the market is a sea of red, it’s easy to collapse your identity into your equity curve. One gentle song on a simple instrument is my way of saying:
“My soul is allowed to be at peace even when the market is not.”
That separation is what lets me come back the next day with a clearer head and a steadier hand.
You do not need a ukulele – you do need a ritual
My instrument happens to be a ukulele. Yours might be:
Drumming fingers on a practice pad.
A quick stretch, breathwork, or a walk to the window.
Writing one sentence in a notebook before re-engaging the screen.
The specifics do not matter. What matters is this:
It is brief (around one minute).
It pulls you out of the chart and into your body.
It is done on purpose, especially when the market is red.
If you trade through market volatility, bear market corrections, or high-stress day trading sessions, you need more than algorithms and watchlists. You need a way to stop your brain from turning every move into a personal emergency.
For me, that way is a ukulele – a tiny wooden reminder that my soul is not priced in dollars per tick.
If you do decide to copy my exact approach:
The Trader’s Ukulele Reset
Turn away from your screen.
Start a 1-minute timer.
Strum a simple progression on loop.
Match your breath to the rhythm.
Repeat one calming phrase in your mind.
Feel free to use mine “I trade the plan, the market is free just like me.”
When the timer ends, stop.
Only then decide: trade, reduce size, or call it a day.
Over time, this becomes a conditioned response: your nervous system learns that one minute of this sound means “we’re safe enough to relax.”
Closing thoughts: soul first, strategy second
I love technicals, execution plans, and clean risk models as much as anyone. I study volatility, position sizing, and risk/reward ratios because they are the backbone of any trading edge. (Investopedia)
But none of that works if the person pressing the buttons is exhausted, tilted, and spiritually burned out.
My one-minute ukulele ritual is not a trading strategy. It’s a soul strategy.
It’s how I remind myself, and now you, that even in a sea of red, we can choose a different rhythm. We can choose breath over panic, sound over noise, and soul over screen.
If this resonated with you, watch the 60-second ukulele clip at the top of this post the next time your week ends in red. Let it be a small reminder that you’re not alone in the sea and that your soul is worth more than any drawdown!
One Love,
Andrew Jodice
Fact / Theory / Speculation notes
Fact: Short, structured relaxation and breathing practices (including 1-minute meditations) can activate the body’s relaxation response and reduce stress markers. (Mayo Clinic)
Fact: Stock market volatility is a statistical measure of price variability and is closely watched by traders; high volatility is associated with higher perceived risk. (Investopedia)
Fact: Sound risk management for traders includes defined position sizing, risk/reward ratios, and protective rules to limit drawdowns. (Investopedia)
Theory: Using a one-minute ukulele ritual as a consistent, time-boxed reset can improve trading discipline by reducing emotional reactivity and helping traders stick to their pre-defined risk rules. (This is consistent with what we know about state regulation but has not, to my knowledge, been directly tested in controlled trading studies.)
Theory: Framing the ritual as a “position size in time” makes it easier for traders to adopt, because it leverages concepts they already use in risk management.
Speculation: Regular use of this specific ukulele practice might, over months or years, measurably improve trading outcomes (higher expectancy, fewer rule violations) for some traders. This is plausible, but would require structured tracking and controlled comparison to verify.
